New Build Heat Standard Part 2 consultation opens

The Scottish Government opened the Part II consultation on its New Build Heat Standard at 00:01 on 28 July 2022, inviting responses until 20 October 2022¹. The paper sets out how ministers intend to regulate to prohibit the use of direct emissions heating (DEH) systems in new buildings from 2024 onwards¹.

Under the proposals, from 1 April 2024 new buildings applying for a building warrant would be prohibited from using direct emissions heating systems to meet their space and hot water heating and cooling demand, and would instead be required to use zero direct emissions heating (ZDEH) technologies¹. This would apply to both new domestic and non-domestic buildings, as well as the conversion of existing buildings, and to any installed heating system within the curtilage of the building, both main and any other fixed heating system¹. The standard would remain technology-agnostic, as proposed in the Part I consultation¹.

The consultation states that bioenergy systems would not be considered compliant, because the research found that combustion of the fuel is associated with direct emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide¹. On 100% hydrogen, it says the findings were inconclusive for direct emissions due to a lack of available real-life data¹. It also proposes that all new wet heating systems be designed to operate at lower temperatures, to be compatible with efficient use of non-DEH solutions such as heat pumps and heat networks¹.

"From 1 April 2024, new buildings applying for a building warrant will be prohibited from using direct emissions heating systems to meet their space and hot water heating and cooling demand."

The paper sets out a timeline: consultation workshops in autumn 2022, the Building (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 coming into force on 1 December 2022 with improved fabric measures for new buildings and continued use of direct emissions heating allowed, passage of the new build standard regulations through Parliament in spring 2023, and regulation of ZDEH in force from 1 April 2024¹. It also notes commitments to have Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies finalised by the end of 2023 and a dedicated National Public Energy Agency by 2025¹.

Why it matters for households

The standard applies to new buildings rather than to existing homes, so it does not by itself require anyone to change the heating system in a home they already occupy. Its practical effect is on what heating a newly built home can have installed. A household buying a new build warranted from 1 April 2024 would be getting a ZDEH system, such as a heat pump or a connection to a heat network, rather than a gas boiler¹. The consultation states that an EPC will be required upon completion for new buildings post 1 April 2024, as is the case now¹.

For a home's energy independence, the direction of travel is away from on-site combustion of gas, oil or bioenergy and towards systems using electricity or heat networks. The consultation notes that the regulations would be monitored and enforced through the building warrant process, which is already familiar to developers¹. The Scottish Building Standards and the Building Warrant System is the route through which a new home's compliance would be checked.

The consultation also records that, at UK level, general understanding of the link between direct emissions heating systems such as gas central heating and climate change is only around 50%, and that in Scotland only around half of people have heard of key non-DEH systems such as heat pumps¹. It states that a Heat in Buildings Public Engagement Strategy is to be published in early 2023¹.

What happens next

The consultation closed on 20 October 2022¹. The Scottish Government said it aimed to have the regulations in place by early 2024, with passage through Parliament in spring 2023 and the standard coming into force on 1 April 2024¹.

Sources1 cited

1. New Build Heat Standard Consultation: Part 2, gov.scot